“Indeed, those who believed and those who were Jews or Christians or Sabeans [before Prophet Muhammed] – those [among them] who believed in Allah and the Last Day and did righteousness – will have their reward with their Lord, and no fear will there be concerning them, nor will they grieve.” (Qur’an 2:62)
Say (O Muhammed): O mankind! Lo! I am the messenger of Allah to you all – (the messenger of) Him unto Whom belongs the Sovereignty of the heavens and the earth. There is no god save Him. He quickens to life and He gives death. So believe in Allah and His messenger, the Prophet who can neither read nor write, who believes in Allah and in His Words, and follow him that happily you will be led properly.” (Qur’an 7:158) T
his entry will give the reason why the Muslims, the Ahl al Haqq Wal Istiqamah (The People of The Truth and Steadfastness) have for believing
WHAT IS A MUSLIM AND HOW IS THE WORD MUSLIM DEFINED?
Muslim =one who submits to Allah. Now ask yourself. Does this mean submit to Allah 50% of the time? Does it mean to submit to Allah 99% of the time?
“Yes, whoever submits his whole self in Islam to Allah while being a doer of good will have his reward with his Lord, and no fear will there be concerning them, nor will they grieve (Qur’an 2:112)
“So who is better in religion than one who submits himself to Allah while being a doer of good and follows the religion of Abraham, inclining toward truth? And Allah took Abraham as an intimate friend.” (Qur’an 4:125)
“So whoever submits his whole self to Allah while he is a doer of good, then he has grasped the most trustworthy handhold. And to Allah will be the outcome of all matters. (Qur’an 31:22)
WHAT IS IBADAH (DEVOTION)?
In Arabic ‘Abd carries the meaning of both slave and devotee.
“And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship (liya ‘buduni) Me.” (Qur’an 51:56)
“Lo! My slaves (‘ibadi) – over them you have no authority. And sufficient is your Lord as Disposer of affairs.” (Qur’an 17:65)
“And if you are in doubt about what We have sent down upon Our Slave (‘abdina) [Muhammed], then produce a Surah the like thereof and call upon your witnesses other than Allah , if you should be truthful.” (Qur’an 2:23)
Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan has made it a point to drive home the concept of what a slave in Islam is supposed to mean again a
WHAT IS KUFR AND HOW IS THE WORD DEFINED?
“And if We give man a taste of mercy from Us and then We withdraw it from him, indeed, he is despairing and ungrateful (kafarun)(Qur’an 11:9)
“Indeed, the wasteful are brothers of the devils, and ever has Satan been to his Lord ungrateful (kafuran)“
(Qur’an 17:27)
It is important to understand here that Satan knows the truth. He knows the unseen. Being chief of the Jinn he knows allot. He even made du’a to Allah (swt) not to punish him immediately!
“He said, “My Lord, then reprieve me until the Day they are resurrected.” (Qur’an 15:36)
Satan also made the following pledge.
“Then I will surely come upon them from before them and from behind them and from their right and from their left, and then You will not find most of them (shakirina) grateful.” (Qur’an 7:17)
“Indeed, Allah defends those who have believed. Indeed, Allah does not like everyone treacherous and ungrateful (kafurin)” (Qur’an 22:38)
“Indeed, We guided him to the way, be he grateful (shakiran) or be he ungrateful (kafuran).” (Qur’an 76:3)
“And We had certainly given Luqman wisdom [and said], “Be grateful (ush’kur) to Allah.” And whoever is grateful (yashkur) is grateful (yashkuru) for [the benefit of] himself. And whoever is ungrateful (kafara) [His favor] – then indeed, Allah is Free of need and Praiseworthy.”
(Qur’an 31:12)
“Certainly they are ungrateful (KAFARA) who say: Surely, Allah– He is the Messiah, son of Mary. Say: Who then could control anything as against Allah when He wished to destroy the Messiah son of Mary and his mother and all those on the earth? And Allah’s is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and what is between them; He creates what He pleases; and Allah has power over all things,” (Qur’an 5:17)
“O my sons! Go you and enquire about Yusuf (Joseph) and his brother, and never give up hope of Allah’s Mercy. Certainly no one despairs of Allah’s Mercy, except the people who are ungrateful (l-kakiruna) .”
“And [remember] when your Lord proclaimed, ‘If you are grateful (shakartum), I will surely increase you [in favor]; but if you are ungrateful (kafartum), indeed, My punishment is severe.
(Qur’an 14:7)
“And of no effect is the repentance of those who continue to do evil deeds until death faces one of them and he says: “Now I repent;” nor of those who die while they are ungrateful (kuffarun). For them, We have prepared a painful torment.” (Qur’an 4:18)
We can see from the above text that kufr is of two types.
Kufr Ni’ama
Ni’ama means: favour, ease, blessings, grace.
Kufr Ni’ama is not the ingratitude of disbelief, but the ingratitude of not recognizing Allah’s blessings, grace, and favour, by going against his commands, prohibitions, guidance.
Kufr Shirk.
Shirk/Mushrik means: To give devotion to something other than Allah, along with Allah.
Kufr Shirk is the ingratitude of not recognizing and acknowledging who Allah (swt) is. As well as not directing one’s devotion to Allah (swt) and Allah (swt) alone.
So for us kufr is ingratitude. Rather than disbelief. This is because everyone upon the Earth (with the exception of those who may not have full use of their mental faculties) has a belief, a faith, a devotion in or to something.
“Say: O ungrateful (l-kafiruna) ones! I will not be a devoted slave (a’budu) to what you are a devoted slave (ta’buduna) to. Neither are you devoted slave (‘abiduna) to Him whom I am devoted slave (a’budu) to. Nor will I be devoted slave (‘abidun) to that which you base your (‘abadttum) devoted slavery. Nor are you going to be devoted slave (‘abiduna) to Him who I am devoted slave (a’budu) to. To you is your way of life (worldview),and to me, my way of life (worldview). (Qur’an 109:1-6)
WHAT IS EMAAN? (BELIEF)
“Indeed, those who believed (amanu) and those who were Jews or Christians or Sabeans [before Prophet Muhammed] – those [among them] who believed (amanu) in Allah and the Last Day and did righteousness – will have their reward with their Lord, and no fear will there be concerning them, nor will they grieve.” (Qur’an 2:62)
“And when it is said to them: Believe (aminu) as the people believe (amana) they say: Shall we believe (anu’minu) as the fools believe (amana)? Now surely they are the fools, but they do not know.” (Qur’an 2:13)
“These are the verses of Allah which We recite to you in truth. Then in what statement after Allah and His verses will they (yu’minuna) believe“? (Qur’an 45:6)
It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said:
Faith has over seventy branches, the most excellent of which is the declaration that there is no god but Allah, and the humblest of which is the removal of a bone from the road. And modesty is a branch of faith. Source: (Sunan Abi Dawud 4676)
It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said:
Faith has over seventy branches or over sixty branches, the most excellent of which is the declaration that there is no god but Allah, and the humblest of which is the removal of what is injurious from the path: and modesty is the branch of faith. Source: (Sahih Muslim 35b Book 1 Hadith 60)
So even an agnostic or an atheist who removes an obstacle on a path they have some faith.
Remember, Iblis himself was a devoted Muslim until…
“So when We said to the angels: Prostrate to Adam they did prostrate, but Iblis (did it not). He refused and he was proud, and he was one of the ungrateful (l-kafirina).” (Qur’an 2:33)
At this moment, this one act of defiance, made Iblis go from being a devoted slave (‘abdina) to being in a state of Kufr Ni’ama.
Heaven is not a place for the ungrateful!
“Get down from here! Here is no place for your arrogance, Get out! You are the lowest of creatures!” (Qur’an 7:13)
“Like the Shaitan when he says to man: be (uk’fur) ungrateful, but when man is (kafara) ungrateful, he says: I am surely clear of you; surely I fear Allah, the Lord of the worlds.” (Qur’an 59:16)
Iblis is not said to be a disbeliever in Allah (swt) nor in his last day. Yet, this one sin (kufr niama), this one act of transgression was enough to bar him from paradise and to have him to burn in hellfire forever. There is absolutely no indication anywhere that Iblis will repent.
“He said, “My Lord, then reprieve me until the Day they are resurrected.” (Qur’an 15:36)
Allah! There is no god but He. The Most Merciful, The Most Gracious! Can you imagine! Iblis wants respite, not to make repentance, not to turn from his waves, not to show himself a devoted slave of Allah (swt) but a persistent and continuous rebel until the very end!
Look at how Merciful Allah (swt) is to humanity! We have been given chance after chance to make tawbah, to repent, to amend, to reform, to turn towards Allah (swt) as devoted slaves.
Brothers and sisters there is no verse in the Qur’an anywhere that believers will enter the hellfire. This is a trap and false belief that has crept into Islam.
Hadith such as the following:
Narrated ‘Ubada:
The Prophet (saw) said, “If anyone testifies that None has the right to be worshipped but Allah Alone Who has no partners, and that Muhammed is His Slave and His Apostle, and that Jesus is Allah’s Slave and His Apostle and His Word which He bestowed on Mary and a Spirit created by Him, and that Paradise is true, and Hell is true, Allah will admit him into Paradise with the deeds which he had done even if those deeds were few.” (Junada, the sub-narrator said, ” ‘Ubada added, ‘Such a person can enter Paradise through any of its eight gates he likes.”)
Source: ( Sahih al-Bukhari 3435 Book 60, Hadith 106)
‘Itban bin Malik (May Allah be pleased with him) said in his long Hadith cited in the Chapter entitled ‘Hope’ reported:
When the Prophet (saw) stood up to offer As-Salat (the prayer) he asked, “Where is Malik bin Ad-Dukhshum?” A man replied: “He is a hypocrite. He does not love Allah and His Messenger.” The Prophet (saw) said, “Do not say that. Do you not know that he said: La ilaha illallah (there is no true god except Allah),’ seeking His Pleasure. Allah has made the fire of Hell unlawful for him who affirms that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah.”
Source: (Riyad as-Salihin 1529)
Comment: It is becoming readily apparent that those hadith need to be taken contextually. First of all the hadith about Allah (swt) making hellfire unlawful for those who say “la ilaha illallah seeking His Pleasure” cannot simply mean just saying the testimony of faith. This is obvious as it is attached to “seeking his Pleasure.”
This goes directly against the following verse:
“Do people think once they say, “We believe,” that they will be left without being put to the test?” (Qur’an 29:2)
“So of no effect is the repentance of those who continue to do evil deeds until death faces one of them and he says: “Now I repent;” nor of those who die while they are ungrateful. For them We have prepared a painful torment”. (Qur’an 4:18)
This idea that Muslims can just do what ever they wish and say the testimony of faith and they will be absolutely fine has no basis in the Qur’an. It is a dangerous belief. Not only this but how many times have we seen kufr ni’ama becomes kufr shirk? Virtually every apostate I have ever encountered was involved in some major sin and then they justify their apostasy with some type of academic approach. When in reality the problem was sin to begin with.
When the believer commits sin, a black spot appears on his heart. If he repents and gives up that sin and seeks forgiveness, his heart will be polished. But if (the sin) increases, (the black spot) increases. That is the Ran that Allah mentions in His Book: “Nay! But on their hearts is the Ran (covering of sins and evil deeds) which they used to earn.” (Qur’an 83:14)
Hadith quote:
Source: (Sunan Ibn Majah 4244 Book 37, Hadith 145)
May Allah (swt) continue to bless us and guide us and keep us on the straight path. May Allah (swt) cause us all to die as devoted slaves, as Muslims.
Please also see the following:
You can see from the chart above that a Muslim is one who submits wholly to Allah (swt).
A Muslim who does major sins, is now in a state of kufr ni’ama.
If they repent and make amends they go back to being a devoted slave, a Muslim who submits his/her self wholly to Allah (swt).
If they do not repent or delay repentance something but be seriously wrong.
They share with the Muslims the belief in the oneness of Allah. They believe in the Oneness of Allah (swt). So they are Muwahiddun. They are definitely not mushrik.
A Mushrik by default is: in a state of not Kufr Shirk by not recognizing and acknowledging who Allah (swt) is. As well as not directing one’s devotion to Allah (swt)
and Allah (swt) alone.
If that Muslim does not make repentance than paradise is forbidden to them, because Allah (swt) has made it clear that kufr is not acceptable in heaven. That person will go into the hellfire. Likewise, the Mushrik who does not recognize the message of Islam. Dies in a state of Kufr Shirk. That person too will go into hellfire.
https://primaquran.com/2022/02/12/kufr-nimah-hadith-evidence-and-the-quran/
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